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Erdogan says Netanyahu ‘no different than Hitler’ as Israel continues to bomb Gaza
Netanyahu criticised Turkey for its own record of alleged rights abuses.
Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan. Picture: Adem Altan/AFP
As Israel continues its relentless bombing and ground attack of Gaza, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has compared Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to Adolf Hitler, likening Israel’s assault on the enclave to Nazi Germany’s killing of Jews.
The Palestinian death toll due to Israeli’s attack on Gaza has surged above 21 000, about two thirds of them women and children, according to the Health Ministry with another reported 195 deaths over 24 hours.
Hitler
In remarks at an awards ceremony in capital Ankara on Wednesday, Erdogan asked what difference there was between Netanyahu and Adolf Hitler.
“They used to speak ill of Hitler. What difference do you have from Hitler? They are going to make us miss Hitler. Is what this Netanyahu is doing any less than what Hitler did? It is not,” Erdogan said.
“He is richer than Hitler, he gets the support from the West. All sorts of support comes from the United States. And what did they do with all this support? They killed more than 20 000 Gazans,” he said.
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Netanyahu hits back
Netanyahu lashed out at Erdogan’s remarks criticising Turkey for its own record of alleged rights abuses at home and in its conflict with Kurdish armed groups, Al Jazeera reported.
“Erdogan, who is committing genocide against the Kurds and who holds the world record for imprisoning journalists who oppose his regime, is the last person who can preach morality to us,” said Netanyahu.
Under Hitler’s rule, Nazi Germany embarked on an effort to systematically eliminate European Jews, killing six million through death and labour camps, mass shootings, and a variety of other means.
Humanitarian crisis
Gaza’s spiralling humanitarian crisis has amplified calls for an end to the hostilities by Israel.
The continued air strikes and the expansion of operations in the south came as the World Health Organisation warned on Wednesday that Gaza’s population was in “grave peril”.
An estimated 1.9 million Gazans have been displaced, the United Nations said.
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